Eugene Weekly

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently entered into separate settlement agreements with Portland-based Cascade Petroleum Transportation, Inc. concerning a March 2012 truck crash near Westfir that resulted in the release of thousands of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel to a ditch on the west side of Hwy. 58. The ditch flowed to Deception Creek, which in turn flowed to the Middle Fork of the Willamette River. Gasoline and diesel fuel also ended up in groundwater that supplies drinking water to nearby residents. Continue reading →

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting comments through 5 pm on Friday, Aug. 7 on an application from Cory Hatfield for Clean Water Act permitting of discharges of construction-related stormwater pollution from Hatfield Estates, located at Van Duyn and Coburg Bottom Loop in Coburg. Visit goo.gl/Yp4iAK for info on commenting. Continue reading →

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting comments through 5 pm Tuesday, Aug. 4 on an application from Hayden Homes for Clean Water Act permitting of discharges of construction-related stormwater pollution from Phase 1 of Rolling Meadows, a 39-lot residential development located at 10th Avenue and Oklea Drive in Junction City. Visit goo.gl/Yp4iAK for info on commenting. Continue reading →

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting comments through 5 pm  Tuesday, July 28, on two proposed Clean Water Act permit modifications for Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products and Cascade Pacific Pulp, which both discharge pollution to the Willamette River via the same outfall near Halsey. The proposed modifications involve the relocation of the outfall approximately 1,300 feet downstream, and a decrease in the size of the “mixing zone” for the discharges. Continue reading →

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting comments through 5 pm on Tuesday, July 21, on the proposed “biosolids” management plan for Premier RV Resorts. (“Biosolids” is a term for treated sewage sludge.) Premier RV Resorts is located near Coburg, southeast of exit 199 on I-5. The plan includes requirements for spreading biosolids on farm land south of the RV resort. Visit goo.gl/ott3SM for more information on commenting. Continue reading →

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) fined Arclin U.S.A. $5,200 last month for illegally discharging pollution to waters of the state early last year from its formaldehyde and formaldehyde-based resin manufacturing facility near 28th and Main in Springfield. Arclin’s discharges were low-pH and high in biochemical oxygen demand, with BOD levels as high as 203 percent of the limit in Arclin’s Clean Water Act permit. Continue reading →

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) fined Lane Community College $3,450 last month for hazardous waste and water quality violations related to mismanagement of waste generated during ceramic making at LCC’s 30th Avenue main campus. The waste was placed in a storm drain where it was likely to end up in state waters, and exceeded regulatory requirements for chromium. According to DEQ, chromium is a bioaccumulative heavy metal that can cause mental retardation and impaired organ function. Continue reading →

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has hit Pacific Recycling with yet another penalty (see previous Pollution Updates for other violations), this time for discharging stormwater containing hydraulic fluid to Roosevelt Channel in December. According to DEQ documents, a large grader that Pacific Recycling was unloading at its Cross Street facility on Dec. 23 tipped over, spilling hydraulic fluid. Continue reading →

Back in June of 2014, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) hit Pacific Recycling with a $327,686 penalty for repeatedly discharging harmful levels of industrial pollutants to waters of the state and failing to install a treatment system in 2011 as it had promised to do. DEQ reduced the penalty to $47,494 in January and issued an order requiring Pacific Recycling to install its treatment system by Jan. 16; Pacific Recycling agreed to pay a penalty of $283,157 if it failed to meet this deadline. Pacific Recycling missed the deadline. Continue reading →